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Onmyōdō

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Onmyōdō (meaning "the Way of Yin and Yang") is Japanese-style spell-casting. Methods range from Yin/Yang, the Five Elements,shikigami, and divination to ofuda and alchemy. Onmyōdō, like many Real World magical belief systems, is an eclectic blend; while it can be treated as simple rule magic, it also has elements of force magic and theurgy.

The various arts and practices of onmyōdō gradually, over the centuries, became absorbed into Shinto and Buddhism and also into the disciplines of other ascetic traditions such as Shugenja. Thus, in many anime and manga works, miko (shrine maidens) are shown as capable of summoning and controlling shikigami.

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A practitioner of onmyōdō is called an onmyōji. Traditionally, the only ones able to legally practice onmyōdō were appointed by the Imperial government, and were in fact, civil servants of the Bureau of Onmyō. During the Heian period, onmyōji had quite a bit of political clout, but when the imperial court fell into decline, their status as civil servants was lost. Their original responsibilities included keeping track of the calendar, divination, and protection of the capital from evil spirits. They also watched for auspicious and/or harmful influences in the earth (earthquake detection).

The most famous onmyōji is Abe no Seimei, a figure roughly analogous to the Merlin of Arthurian legend. Like Merlin, it is said that he was not entirely human, but the offspring of a nobleman and a female Kitsune deity. Abe no Seimei is a documented historical personage who lived from about 921 CE to around 1005 CE, the middle of the Heian Period. A shrine dedicated to him was built in Kyoto soon after his death, and still exists today. His descendants, the Tsuchimikado clan, were responsible for managing the Bureau of Onmyō for most of its existence.

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Gobosei (pentagram)

In Japanese culture, this is a symbol of magical power, a diagram of the "overcoming cycle" of the five Chinese elements (Wu Xing). A five-pointed star variant (leaving out the outside pentagon) is known as a Seiman, the personal crest of Abe no Seimei.

In modern Japanese literature, ofuda are always rectangles of paper with holy or magical symbols/spells written on them. They may be used to create a protective ward, seal a building, dispel evil influences, or even as a weapon against those of malign intent.

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It's also worth noting that the name can be heard two ways - one is the "equation spirit" so described. The other meaning? Fierce Death God - the sort of deities that are usually charged with ensuring the death of humans, either at their appointed time or otherwise. Expect a lot of onmyōdō-rich works to play with this.

One of the divination means onmyōji employed. During the Heian era, onmyōji were also responsible for making calendars. note Japan used the Chinese calendar until after the opening of Japan. As part of that system, The Four Gods were thus also incorporated into onmyōdō.

Feng Shui

Another Chinese influence amalgamated into onmyōdō.

Twelve Heavenly Commanders

A group of shikigami attributed to Abe no Seimei, sometimes referred to as the Twelve Divine Commanders (a title of the protectors of Yakushi Buddha) or the Twelve Devas (another unrelated group of deities), who appear as a popular motif in onmyō-themed works. They consist of, in order:

Examples:

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Anime and Manga

In Doomed Megalopolis, an anime based upon Teito Monogatari (in Literature, below), the villain Yasunori Kato is an onmyoji. He is shown with the gobosei on his gloves and hat. His magic often involves hand signs (usually Kuji-kiri) where the gobosei serves to focus/increase his power. At the beginning of the story, Kato contends with Abe no Seimei's descendants (see literature below). Throughout the anime, many onmyodo based and related concepts are illustrated, including Shikigami, Ofuda, and Feng Shui.

Yasuaki's expy Abe no Yasutsugu from Haruka 2 and Kajiwara Kagetoki from Haruka 3 also use onmyodo, though Kagetoki ditches the more traditional Magical Gesture methods in favour of a gun-like thing that produces Instant Runes.

Not to mention the events of the anime only happened because Abe no Seimei tried to save his best friend and love interest after they both died due to a love triangle. He remade the world into our world, but when he realized events were about to repeat, he just left, presumably returning to his own world

The anime and manga Onmyou Taisenki revolves almost completely around onmyodo.

Isumi also enchanted Tama via this method to enable him to become a Talking Animal.

In K, the Gold King came from a family of onmyouji, which is why he was able to control and understand the power-giving Slates more than any of the other characters.

Nakahito in Steel Angel Kurumi is an aspiring onmyoji, hoping to one day be as good as his older brother. His latent power is given as the reason for his being able to activate Kurumi in the first episode.

The Kekkaishi have shades of this; they have Ofuda which they use to summon Shikigami, when they need to do things such as clean up the mess they make when they fight to sustain the Masquerade.

Tsuchimikado Motoharu of A Certain Magical Index is a highly-skilled onmyoji, and is even descended from a famous clan of them. However, having undergone the Power Development Curriculum, using these abilities causes a backlash in his body, and is potentially fatal for him. Luckily, his ability, Level 0 Auto-Rebirth, allows him to bypass this for a limited number of times.

Abe no Seimei himself and ofuda magic (used by the Octobrist Organisation) also appear in Drifters.

It's a very large part of InuYasha, as pretty much the main form - if not only form - of magic used by humans. Even Big Bad Naraku sends doppelgangers of himself pretty much by the Shikigami method (if you actually manage to beat him, you'll probably be left with a small wooden doll around which the doppelganger was built.)

This is the form of magic used by Nanami, and by most supernaturally empowered human characters we see, in Kamisama Kiss. Nanami tends to get very creative with her tailsmans, even using one concerning traffic safety to kill a a couple of demonic thugs.

Ashiya Mutsuki is a practicing onmyoji, complete with shikigami, paper dolls and various techniques. It's a family tradition, and his ancestor Ashiya Mangetsu is shown to have been formidable as well.

Descendants of Abe no Seimei also seem to still be practicing onmyodo, and employ the gobosei (pentagram) as their family crest, but the only important character of that line, Abe no Sosei, has chosen the sword instead.

Tokyo Ravens has the majority of magic practitioners be onmyouji due to the system being reestablished to fight in WWII.

The Kohamei sect from Ushio and Tora is buddhist, but most of his monster-hunting members (including the Four Candidates for the Beast Spear) are well-versed in Onmyodou in order to fight the Youkai. The best example would be Satoru, the strongest candidate, who dresses like an Onmyoji and can summon Shikigami in the form of gigantic insects/spiders in order to fight.

The films Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis and Tokyo: The Last War are adaptations of the novel Teito Monogatari (see Literature below).

The films Onmyōji (I & II) are a fictitious account of Abe no Seimei based on the novel series of the same name (which also inspired a manga adaptation, also of the same name).

Literature

In the 1985 bestselling novel Teito Monogatari written by occult specialist Hiroshi Aramata, the protagonist Yasunori Kato is a master onmyoji. The first part of the novel revolves around a battle between his forces and the Tsuchimikado Family. The Tsuchimikado Family is descended from the clan of Abe no Seimei and its leader, Yasumasa Hirai, is the direct descendant of Seimei. Yasunori Kato also claims to be a descendant of Abe no Seimei (his first name, Yasunori, is derived from Seimei's teacher, Kamo no Yasunori) but is branded a heretic and a demon for going against the Japanese Empire. The bestselling, award winning occult novel is widely considered the first modern fantasy work to ignite popular interest in onmyodo mysticism in the Japanese media.

Baku Yumemakura's Onmyoji novels, first published in 1988 (in the wake of Teito Monogatari's success), brought the popularity of onmyoji to new heights.

Natsuhiko Kyogoku's Kyogokudo mystery novels, which started being being published in 1994, are also major contributors to the boom. The protagonist of the series, Chuzenji Kyogokudo, is a bookstore owner who functions on the side as a part time onmyoji. The first volume of the series was translated in English as The Summer of Ubume.

Shōnen Onmyōji chronicles the life of Abe no Seimei's youngest grandson and his journey in becoming an onmyouji. There is also an anime adaptation.

Apparently, Nezumi in, Broken Gate, is an omnyouji, the which is implied in the fact that she's sealed away something powerful behind a gate and has to reinforce those seals, along with placing a curse on her older brother.

Tabletop Games

The Anima: Beyond Fantasy sourcebook Arcana Exxet features several alternate theories of magic, allowing for alternate means of spellcasting. Among such options as Shamanism and Voudon, being an Onmyoji is an option. They create Ofuda in order to store their spells in advance, which allows for faster spellcasting that usual.

Akari Ichijo from The Last Blade is a Bunny-Ears Lawyer example, who uses her gohei as a weapon, can summon a variety of youkai to attack her opponent and uses her shikigami basically to cheat death (whenever she's hit with a finisher, she replaces herself with it). For bonus points, the PlayStation port of the first game has also an alternate version of Akari which is actually a tanuki impersonating her.

Gensokyo is the Clap Your Hands If You Believe mystical setting of the Touhou series, where many forms of magic co-exist. The miko Hakurei Reimu and Kochiya Sanae use ofuda and there are some on Fujiwara no Mokou's pants, probably as flame retardant; Reimu also has her smiting Hakurei Ying-Yang Orbs. Rumia is a Youkai with a sealing ofuda in her hair which she can't touch. Patchouli Knowledge prominently uses elemental magic based on Eastern elements (wood, metal, etc.). Yakumo Yukari has a kitsune shikigami named Ran; Ran has her own nekomata shikigami in the form of Chen.

Many of Sanae's spellcards are also based off of onmyodo, most notably her pentagram-filled cards in Mountain of Faith and her "Nine Syllable Stabs" card in Subterranean Animism.

The Tanuki-woman, Mamizou Futatsuiwa, has a huge number of spells involving paper doll shikigami. They come in human-shaped, dog-shaped, bird-shaped, and frog-shaped varieties. She uses them as bullets, as familiars that shoot bullets themselves, or as both at once. She also has an attack where she summons copies of herself, presumably more shikigami familiiars.

Several characters, including Abe no Seimei, her rival Ashiga Doman and his disciples from Kuon are identified as onmyouji and can use various kinds of magic.

Some of this makes appearances in Ōkami; notably, ofuda "prayer slips" are used by Rao in the Ghost Ship to dispel powerful curses and destroy ghosts.

Chinnen's stage in Power Instinct Matrimelee has onmyoji Yabeno Hikomaro, shrine maiden Kotohime, and three backup monks (referred to only as the Bouzu Dancers) dancing in the background to a surprisingly catchy tune. The song, and the unlockable music video for it, became something of a meme.

Onmyodo, amongst other magic systems, consistently appears throughout Shin Megami Tensei franchise. It's usually in the form of the One-Hit KillHoly Hand Grenade Hama spell. Notable users include Abe no Seimei (a descendant with the same name) in Raidou Kuzunoha Vs. The Lonely Marebito and Raidou himself to an extent.

Several of the Japanese aircraft carriers from Kantai Collection are designed as onmyouji where their planes are their shikigami: Ryuujou, Hiyou, Jun'you, Unryuu, Amagi, Katsuragi, and Akitsu Maru (with a Buddhist style while the rest follow the Shinto style).

In the first Fatal Frame, talismans can often be founding sealing doors. Getting rid of them requires going to a certain place and photographing a spirit, causing the talisman to burn and the door to be unlocked. A similar mechanic is found with voodoo dolls in the third game. (The second game just went ahead and had invisible "ghostly power" sealing the doors.)

Onmyoji appear as recruitable leaders of Jomon (a Fantasy Counterpart Culture for Japan) in the Dominions series. They are typically strong in Astral magic and always appear with one summoned shikigami in battle.

Fire Emblem Fates features the "Sage" class being renamed as "Onmyoji", which is a potential promotion for Diviners, Shrine Maidens, and their Spear Counterpart Monks. While the Nohr magic tends to be about the elements and takes the form of books, Hoshidan magic are paper fans (Scrolls, actually) and summon Shikigami from the chinese zodiac to attack. The Shikigami were translated as "Spirits" for the English release. Izana, the Archduke of the Principality of Izumo is one such Onmyoji - who is seen using Divination during the story.

One of the main party members in the first game, Zhuzhen Li, is well versed in this. As a Taoist sage his magic takes effect by manipulating the primal forces of yin and yang to create all sorts of phenomena, from spontaneously starting fires, to rejuvenating the body, to raising the dead to conjuring storms.

Recurring antagonist Garan the Oracle in the second half of Covenant is explicitly stated to be the "16th in direct succession" of Abe no Seimei. He's shown to be powerful enough to create pocket dimensions where he traps Yuri an Co. and in battle, he's able to skillfully exploit the elemental weaknesses of the playable characters by casting spells on whoever is weak against them.

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